Redd's transfer comes in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal that rocked Penn State and the heavy sanctions imposed by the NCAA last week. The NCAA is allowing any current PSU player to transfer immediately and play right away.

Redd, a second-team All-Big Ten pick who rushed for 1,241 yards last season, would have been the centerpiece of O'Brien's offense this season.

In joining head coach Lane Kiffin's Trojans, Redd becomes more of a complementary piece to USC's loaded offense, which boasts a Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback, Matt Barkley, and two game-breakers at wideout, Robert Woods and Marqise Lee.

My opinion hasn't changed. He goes from being a marked man at Penn State to being a tailback who figures to see a lot more running room on an offense that also has Barkley, Woods and Lee.

Any way you look at it, the loss of Redd figures to have a major impact on Penn State's 2012 offense. There is no one else like him on the roster. I don't think there are many running talents in the country like the 5-10, 200-pounder, a great mix of quickness, strength, balance and vision.

PSU also has no proven No. 1 wideout on the roster, with senior Justin Brown expected to be the main guy. There are depth issues at wideout, also.

O'Brien was going to run his offense through Redd, clearly his best, and most dangerous, player. All that changes in light of Redd's transfer.

O'Brien and his assistants have done a masterful job at keeping the current team together in light of the NCAA heavy sanctions, which include a four-year postseason ban and a heavy scholarship reduction during that time.

The Lions didn't lose many players. But they did lose one of their best.

Preseason practice takes on added significant without Redd. O'Brien and his offensive assistants need to find his replacement, or settle on the right tailback-by-committee approach.

Sophomore Bill Belton, a converted wideout who was a wildcat quarterback for PSU last season, is a talented runner who will get a long look. O'Brien wasted little time moving him from wideout-QB to tailback during the spring.

Belton (5-10, 196) was a running quarterback at Winslow Twp. High School in South Jersey, posting consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons. He needs seasoning, though, after carrying just 13 times for 65 yards last season.

After Belton, O'Brien will consider senior walk-on Derek Day, a Central Dauphin High School grad who impressed the coaches in spring, and bruising redshirt sophomore Zach Zwinak, a 226-pounder.

Other possibilities are redshirt junior Curtis Dukes, who missed the spring to concentrate on academics, and true freshman Akeel Lynch. O'Brien said last week he was hopeful Dukes will rejoin the team for the fall.

Recent PSU history suggests you never know where the Lions' next 1,000-yard rusher is going to come from.

Evan Royster, the program's all-time leading rusher with 3,932 yards, was not a ballyhooed recruit coming out of the Virginia high school scene. He was a more accomplished lacrosse player.

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